


Falling

by HiMiTSu



Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 17:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6668125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiMiTSu/pseuds/HiMiTSu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lex was falling.</p>
<p>Wind, biting cold, was tearing at his clothes, making his fingers go numb. His mind was in a haze, but his heart was steady. He felt calm, even knowing he was about to die. Somehow, it felt unimportant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Falling

**Author's Note:**

> This started as a heavy angst - I have no idea how I managed to descent to fluff again. Really, I don't know how that had happened. Or actually this story started with an image of Lex falling, which would not leave my head. So I tried to put this picture into words.
> 
> A fair warning, I've never read the comics, only saw Smallville and some Superman movies, so I don't know it the fictional science behind this collerates with canon. I only hope it does.
> 
> Also I really like Mercy, I love the idea of Mercy and I think it's sad there wasn't more of her in the movie. There is going to be more of her in my fics though:)

Lex was falling.

Wind, biting cold, was tearing at his clothes, making his fingers go numb. His mind was in a haze, but his heart was steady. He felt calm, even knowing he was about to die. Somehow, it felt unimportant.

The freezing cold was the only thing he truly felt, one dominant in the whole muted world.

He reached up, grasping at the stars over the Metropolis city, but the hair got into his eyes and covered half the sky; somewhere in the depth of his chest he felt disappointment.

LexCorp building loomed over him growing higher with every second he fell back away from it.

Breathing was hard, he could not fully fill his lungs with oxygen and gasped, but the air was so cold…A cough tore through his throat, a disgusting metallic taste exploded on his tongue.

If he imagined that the stars were his ground, Lex thought falling was just like flying. If only the wind wasn’t like ice beating at his skin.

The idea to call for help didn’t even cross his mind, thoughts a jumbled mess of a stray ideas and familiar faces. Lex threw his hands out, his coat flapping loudly. Flying didn’t feel good.

Why did superheroes like it so much? Superman zapped around the sky all the time; Clark never mention it was this…cold.

Clark, he thought, his muddled mind full of unexpected longing. Clark’s kisses were warm, nice…Lex pressed his chapped lips together. It’s a shame they did not get on well enough to have a repeat of that one-night stand.

LexCorp was so huge now, looming over him like a dark threat, like his father used to loom.

No, he did not want to think about his father now.

He wanted something sweet, something beautiful…

The sky was beautiful. Deep black with constellations of faraway galaxies bright even through the light pollution of the city.

Tremor ran through his body, a wave from toes to the tips of his fingers, bending his spine and making him cry out. Was it a gasp or a name that tore from his lips in a moment of sudden pain, who knew? Who could tell? Who heard?

Lex was falling. He couldn’t see the ground but he felt it was gaining fast.

* * *

 

Clark heard his name. A whisper so soft it was almost lost in the wind, if not for the desperation it carried. He looked up, gaze searching the city skyline. Nothing seemed out of order, but he was sure he heard…Clark’s gaze trained on the LexCorp building, settling first on a couple of figures at the very top. Neither looked familiar, but the presence of people on the helipad was already suspicious. He scanned the building then, moving from the top and down…

Clark took off the roof, gaining speed quickly, as his eyes fixed on a figure plummeting to its death. His vision picked up signs of life, breathing shallow but there, and he relaxed just a little.

The distance between them was big, but it was fine, he could do it, he could be there in time. He was Superman.

The closer he got the better Clark could see Lex, fragile form torn into by the harsh wind, face pale and eyes half closed. Something was wrong with him, but he could deal with that later.

Just.

As.

He.

Would, “Got you,” Clark exclaimed happily as he flew from below to catch Lex from the back. He wound his hands around Lex’s torso tightly and pressed Lex’s back to his chest, slowing down. “See, maybe you won’t be grumbling about my flying all the time after that.” Clark joked and smiled, glancing at the side of his face.

Lex’s skin was ghostly pale and his eyes, open but unfocused, looked back uncomprehensive. He hang in Clark’s arms like a rag doll.

“Alright, let’s get you to the ground first,” Clark muttered and spun carefully to glide down. That’s when he felt his hands suddenly shaking; then dizziness stroke and the weakness overcame his limbs.

He clutched Lex to his chest tightly, fighting the fatigue, and to his utter horror realized that the slow slide downward was turning into an actual plummet. Clark had no idea what was happening. He must have been gripping the man in his arms too tightly because he heard Lex mutter weakly, “Superman?”

“Yeah,” Clark confirmed and glanced at him briefly: Lex’s head lolled to the side and on his neck, a bright contrast to the grey pallor of his skin stood out bright green veins on his neck. Someone had dosed him with kryptonite, Calrk realized with horror. He looked up at the figures still standing on the roof and fought to keep the altitude from dropping too quickly.

“Shit.” This was a trap for him. From the very beginning they were counting on him catching Lex. Clark’s gaze turned to Lex again, so weak and helpless, barely conscious because of the drug running through his veins. What lasting effect would it have, except make him unattainable for Superman?

Clark fought the weakness he now recognized as familiar, it felt like his body weighted tons and every attempt to keep upright in the air cost too much energy, hurt his straining muscles, made Clark’s hold on his own consciousness slip. He shouted out a cry for help, hoping for Diana or J’onn, someone – anyone – who could fly, who would be able to catch them.

He curled his body around Lex, a skinny frame fitting against his bulk easily, and tucked Lex’s head beneath his chin, hoping it would lessen the impact for him.

They were falling and Clark had no intention of letting go.

* * *

 

An annoying constant hum broke through Lex’s sleep and dragged his mind back to the surface. His eyelids felt heavy but he tore them open to find the source of his irritation – the medical equipment by his side; the room was full of natural light, sun streaming through the curtains of his room. Lex liked natural light, waking up early with the first rays shining through his floor to ceiling windows. At that moment however, his head was splitting with what felt like the worst hangover in the world and he had to fight the pull of heavy sleep.

“Mr. Luthor.” A voice, surprised but pleased called from the threshold, and a young nurse rushed to his side. “How are you feeling?”

“Terrible,” his voice sounded weak and pathetic so he tried again. “Like I fell off a cliff.”

“You kind of did,” Mercy’s tone was loud and unapologetic, her heels clicking too loudly.

Lex scowled at her as soon as she appeared in his field of vision. She smirked and exclaimed, full of mocking cheer and excitement. “Superman saved you!”

The nurse, unaware of the false praise, added. “Isn’t he amazing? You must be very grateful to him, Mr. Luthor.”

“Sure,” Lex waved her off with a scowl. “What happened?”

He could remember some bits, intruders at the LexCorp, stupid decision to check out the disturbance by himself and then…a needle in his neck and a free fall. He thought he recalled a familiar smile and hands keeping him close, but the memory came through such a haze, it was impossible to tell apart from a dream. Mercy arched her eyebrows and made a sharp head tilt in the direction of the nurse who was checking his vitals. Alright then, when they are alone.

“You seem to be doing well, Mr. Luthor. Just a little bed rest and you’ll be good as new.” The girl announced; her peppiness was perfectly in harmony with the beautiful weather outside, and such a contradiction to Lex’s dull mood.

“That’s wonderful,” Mercy interrupted before the nurse could continue. “You can go now.”

“Alright,” even the rudeness didn’t get her down and the girl wished Lex all the best with a sweet smile and left.

Lex waited a couple moments and tried to level himself into a sitting position; it was hard and he got out of breath half way through – Mercy made no move to help. “What _did_ happen?”

“Some strangers,” the way she said made Lex doubt those were actually strangers. It also made very clear that the men were already dealt with. “Decided to use you as the bait in their plan to kill Superman. Funny, considering you two are sworn enemies.”

“Well, you know…” Lex shrugged.

“I do know,” she lifted her eyebrows pointedly. “He caught you, of course. But here is the problem, they injected you with liquid kryptonite. A very interesting solution, I have to say.” A devious smirk played at the corners of her smile. “After your crash landing they put you on dialyses to get it out of your system. You were weak, incoherent, but it wasn’t actually life threatening. They brought you here.”

“They?”

“Some members of the League, I don’t keep track of them – that’s your hobby. I’m pretty sure Wonder Woman was leading the squad.

“So they caught us before we fell?”

“Not really,” Mecy bit her bright red lip as if to keep herself from smiling. “You crashed right onto the pavement. LexCorp parking lot still has a huge dent in it.”

For the first time that morning Lex felt a pang of pain that wasn’t physical. “But then Superman…”

“I assume he must have been in a pretty bad shape.” Mercy shrugged carelessly. “But I’m sure, he is fine now.” She added in a bored tone. “Seriously, from what I heard, he was still breathing when they scraped him off the pavement.”

Lex boggled her eyes at her, but Mercy just shrugged again. He forced himself to relax, it Superman was dead it’d have been the first thing she’d have told him. She might not have cared about the superhero personally, but she knew about Lex’s fixation. Her bedside manner was horrible and maybe Lex needed a new PA, but all the talk generally boiled down to the assassination plan been unsuccessful. That’s all that mattered in the end.

“Alright,” Lex relaxed against the pillows. “Anything else essential I should know about?”

“No.” Mercy shook her head and glanced at the tablet. “We are doing fine, I rescheduled your meetings for tomorrow. Oh and one more thing,” her eyes glittered ominously behind the thick frames of her glasses. “We managed to save a sample of your blood from the incident. Researches are trying to extract the liquid kryptonite from it.”

“Think we can get a formula from it?”

“There is chance.” She smirked smugly. “I knew you’d love to work on that when you recover.”

It would make a lovely pet project, he thought but did not give her the satisfaction of realizing just how much he loved her cunning mind. Mercy left him to get better in peace and Lex finally succumbed to more sleep.

When he woke next time, it was already dark outside. The night sky was full of stars again, a little away from the city they shone even brighter. After a whole day of sleeping Lex was feeling well enough to appreciate the beauty.

A cold breeze entered through the French doors standing wide open, Lex shivered and tried to remember if the doors where open when he fell asleep. The nurse might have come by to let some fresh air in, or he had an unexpected late night visitor. He searched the room and noticed something that looked like a figure of a man in the far corner.

“Sorry,” Superman said as he stepped into the weak light of the half-moon. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” Lex’s retort came quickly, an instinct to contradict Superman ingrained deep into his mind.

“How are you feeling?”

“Epic,” Lex smirked, there was only a small dose of sarcasm in his reply. He was actually so much better than that morning. “How are you?”

“Good.” Superman hovered in the middle of the room, unsure if he was welcome to step closer.

Lex regarded him coolly, noting the shy expression and the hopeful look in his eyes, a tentative smile about to blossom into a full grin. He needed to speak up before he could lose his nerve. “You could have just let go.”

“What?”

“Of me. You could have just let go of me.”

Clark started shaking his head, mouth opening to contradict but Lex spoke over him. “You didn’t have to save me. You lost your powers, letting go would have been a logical solution.”

“I wasn’t about to let you die!” Clark replied. He regained some composure to explain. “Fortunately, we were close to the ground, so I still had some powers left for a…rough…landing.”

Lex snorted, “You are ridiculous.”

“Maybe. But I need you to know,” and Clark held his gaze with intensity that scared Lex. “Even if I caught you just at the top, I wouldn’t have let go. This was not…this isn’t even an option.”

“Selfless idiot,” Lex muttered under his breath, but he couldn’t keep a smile.

“So you sure you are alright?”

“Perfectly fine. Except I now hate flying, but I can leave with that.”

“Flying could be fun.” Clark said as he stepped to the bed.

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Really. Let me show you.” He reach out a hand and Lex eyed it skeptically.

“Seriously? You just want me to…I don’t even know how to finish that sentence.”

“Come on. Trust me.”

Lex didn’t trust Superman; he suspected he’d never will. But he did trust Clark Kent. And the man did save his life just twelve hours ago. Defeated, Lex allowed himself to be dragged out of bed, snagged a hoodie from a chair by the desk, and followed Clark to the balcony.

“Am I really doing this?” He asked no one in particular as Clark reached for him, hands clasping around his midsection. Lex wound his hands around Superman’s neck and held on for dear life as they lifted off the ground.

He grasped Clark just a little tighter and suppressed his fear; the desire to close his eyes was strong but Lex was stronger, so he gazed straight ahead, in Clark’s eyes and at the dark sky behind.

Maybe flying wasn’t so bad after all.

 


End file.
